1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the general field of covers for open bodies of water, particularly swimming pools, and is more particularly directed to a thermally effective cover designed to entrap and magnify atmospheric heat and pass the same into the water and retain it, and is particularly directed to such a device in segments which fit together when floated upon a surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is considerable prior art in the field of swimming pool covers and the like. There are segmented covers which consist of a multiplicity of hinged segments to cover a pool; There are fabric and plastic covers designed to be stretched across a pool; There are inflatable fabric covers designed to spread over an entire pool; There are the so called "lily pads" which are plastic elements designed to float upon the surface.
The large majority of the covering arrangements in the prior art are directed solely to prevention of evaporation; Safety purposes to prevent persons falling into a pool, items to prevent icing or contamination, and the like.
There have, also, been some efforts to provide fabric or plastic covers for pools designed to limit the escape of heat from the water or to attempt to enhance the absorbtion by the water of heat from the sun, and the atmosphere, while attempting to prevent the escape of heat.
While all of the prior art has a general bearing upon the subject of the present invention, there is not prior art incorporating shaped segments which will nest together upon the surface of the pool and wherein heat collecting space is provided between an upper and lower surface of said segments with the surfaces so treated as to enhance the collection of thermal energy from the sun or the atmosphere, enhance the transfer of the same into the pool, and retard the escape of heat from the pool by convection or the like. In these particulars, the present invention is unique by comparison to the prior art.